DeRidder War Memorial hosts WWII oral history recording event

2014-08-30T22:16:55Z2018-03-02T18:17:32Z

DERIDDER, LA (KPLC) -

The DeRidder War Memorial Civic Center (WMCC) is collecting WWII oral history in conjunction with its ongoing renovation of its historical exhibits, The First USO and The War Room. The war memorial is recording war stories, memories, songs etc. told by Southwest Louisiana residents who lived during WWII.

"I think it's really great because this is going away," said WWII veteran Hershel Frazier of Dequincy. "I'm 81-years-old and a whole lot of those aren't here anymore that had known about this."

The tapings were collected with the help of voiceover coach and owner of Voice One, an audio production company based out of San Francisco, California, Elaine Clark. Clark is is also a DeRidder High School graduate and her father, Roy Ades, helped organize the event and says when the project is finished, the stories will be saved on special audio players and will be available for the public to listen at the war memorial.

"They have so much to share and tell people and we need to put all this down so that people can remember," said Clark.

The tapings will resume Tuesday, Sept. 2 and Frazier says as a WWII veteran and Southwest Louisiana native, preserving this memories for future generations needs to be done before they all go away.

"I hope that they'll remember the sacrifices that were made by the boys who went to war and fought," he said. "And the thousands and thousands that didn't come back."

Director of the WMCC Sandra Rich says the scope of this effort is restricted to history regarding Beauregard and Vernon Parishes from 1941 to 1945.

She says that time frame saw the development of the DeRidder Army Air Base, Camp Polk, and the DeRidder USO.

If you wish to participate, contact the WMCC personnel or call 337-463-7212 to set up a reservation.

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